I watched it last night, and if I had to write a one-word review, unfortunately it would be :

“disappointing”

I’ve been a fan of Sam Raimi for years, but I’ll be the first to admit that the man (like any director) is far from infallible.

This entry in the Spider-Man cinematic saga reminds me less of the director’s subtle crafting in a film like “The Gift” and more of a loud, angry mess like his work on “Darkman”.

Simply put, like most superhero films that attempt to cram more than one villain in, compounded with more than one love interest, more than one emotional trauma to explain and correct, and/or more than one “EPIC melodramatic” on-screen moment … this one collapses under it’s own weight.

Also, unlike the previous two films, that obviously had a good sense of humor about the characters and the world that they existed in … there are moments in Spidey 3 that go SO far over the top for such extended periods of time (Parker’s stroll down the street under the ego-boosting power of the symbiote / his jazz club dance routine), I SWEAR you’ll find yourself asking if Joel Schumacher (of Batman and Robin infamy) was the second unit director.

I KNOW Sam Raimi is a guy who loves a good “Three Stooges” approach to action and comedy … but this time around it really feels like he utterly failed to keep that “feeling” confined to moments including J.J. Jameson and crew, where in previous entries it worked in spades, it made almost every scene feel downright goofy.

There are MASSIVE plot-holes in terms of the most basic technical observations, and I’m not talking geek-worthy research-based stuff … I’m talking people just sitting there wondering what the hell they just saw.

For instance - why does a pumpkin bomb only cause some MINOR scarring on Harry Osbourne when detonated at point blank range, yet it TOTALLY vaporizes Eddie Brock and Venom in an unconfined area?

And there are some “fast-and-loose” moments played with the mythology of the characters … why they felt the NEED to make Sandman the person responsible for killing Uncle Ben is beyond me … his (totally UNDER-DEVELOPED) own plot thread of being a crook who wanted to save his daughter from whatever mysterious disease was ailing her was enough to make us feel sympathetic, wasn’t it?

Gwen Stacy and Capt. Stacy were nicely portrayed, but, almost completely pointless … I didn’t feel the subtlety that Dr. Connors has been used in the first two films (and the third)

Venom was nicely handled, but with the inclusion of the Sandman, as well as The New Goblin, it just felt like any of the three ON THEIR OWN would have been ENOUGH to sustain this film. There was just TOO MUCH, TOO FAST, and TOO HARD to feel like anything had
room to breathe, live or grow story-wise.

Bruce Campbell and Stan Lee both made great cameos, but I disagree with some early press that this was Bruce’s “best cameo yet in the Spider-Man franchise” … I thought that both of his previous entries were more fun.

And, the BIGGEST question on my mind as I was watching was - did we REALLY need a heartfelt moment with Harry Osbourne and his butler?

But I digress, this film is not totally without merit.

I think that the single best thing about Spider-Man three is the pay-off of the Goblin arc. James Franco was fantastic, the sequences between Spider and the New Goblin were the most exciting, and, honestly the most emotionally gratifying, since we had EMOTIONALLY INVESTED in Harry Osbourne and his strife during the course of the previous two films.

Whether or not the film is not worthy of your $10 ticket price is kind of a tough call … I’m SURE that most if not all of you will go see it, and I’m not saying that you shouldn’t …

… but, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it doesn’t meet the expectations set by the previous two films the way that it didn’t for me.

Great review, I was on the edge about seeing this in theaters, though I will most definitely rent it at some point.

I’ve read a couple of reviews, and in general they fall in line with yours. It would seem that in an attempt to out do the previous movies, the third one crumbles under its own ambitions. As a trilogy of movies however, I think these will still stand up very well over time.

Yeah, the movie crossed a line as far as melodrama that the first two never did. Even with all the faults Frankie brings up, which I mostly agree with, I probably could have thoroughly enjoyed it - in a train wreck sort of way - if it wasn’t for being bludgeoned by poorly developed sentiment for three times as much screen time as ever before.

Nominally worth watching if you already enjoy the series, but it’s truly sad how much time I spent hoping it would just be over with soon.

i saw the film yesterday, the one word review i would give is… “embarrasment”

FrankieViturello:

there are moments in Spidey 3 that go SO far over the top for such extended periods of time (Parker’s stroll down the street under the ego-boosting power of the symbiote / his jazz club dance routine)

omgg this part was absolutely terrible
the walking down the street thing was bearable, but the jazz club part where he just appears on the piano… "i’ll take it from here"
my head was literrally in my hands thinking what the hell is this
then that scene got worse and worse, and the only way i think it could have been saved was if peter woke up from a dream, which sadly, didn’t happen

FrankieViturello:

There was just TOO MUCH, TOO FAST, and TOO HARD to feel like anything had room to breathe, live or grow story-wise.

well put. even the main focus of the film, venom and the symbiote seem so rushed and there was no build up. how it just happened to appear in the middle of nowhere where spiderman happens to be and then take him over. Im pretty sure this didnt happen in the comics (never actually read them) but in the cartoon series the storyline was way better and i don’t know why they didn’t just take an adaptation from that.
It all happened so quick and fast, its was like just flicking through a book looking at the pictures skim-reading the captions as you go.

it did have its good parts tho, the spiderman + goblin sacrifice at the end worked really well emotionally, but the other parts of the film (arghhh that jazz club part) much outweight the rest i feel…

Also, the fact that the butler just so happened to keep that little nuggest to himself all these years makes me feel as if Rami needed to tie up the loose ends, but couldn’t figure out something more interesting or relevent.

As for the bomb only scarring Harry, and destroying Venom completely- it would have been fine if the symbiote has weak to fire as well as sound (it wasn’t explored in the movie, so we can presume it doesn’t make a difference in this cannon).

Let it be known that I enjoyed this movie, just not as much. But here’s where I agree with you.

That shit with the pumpkin bomb bothered me too. The film is truly a submersion into Plothole City.

Also, terrible, ghastly writing. Venom is butch, but they made him a pansy. Example? Lines like: "I like being bad."
Very, very homoerotic in nature.

And that conversation with the butler at the end basically translates to: “Hey, your dad is actually responsible for his own death, sorry. Guess it would have been useful to let you know that before you became a mutilated psychopath. My bad.”

And like I said, Venom was ruined for me. First of all the symbiote is extremely durable, far moreso than human anatomy. A pumpkin bomb wouldn’t do shit to it in the comics, I guarantee you. Aesthetically, Venom looked cool, but he had Topher Grace’s voice, which was not in the least bit intimidating. Cool shriek though.

If I had my way, the plot would have been altered as such:
Cut out Sandman completely, give evil Spidey an extra ten minutes of screentime, and make Venom the primary villain.